Top US senators scold Riyadh, vow action over Khashoggi debacle

An influential US Senate ally of President Donald Trump pledged Tuesday that Congress would take decisive action against Saudi Arabia over a missing writer, calling for the ouster of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“This guy is a wrecking ball. He had this guy murdered in a consulate in Turkey,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told “Fox and Friends,” one of the president’s favorite news broadcasts.

Graham, discussing the feared killing of Saudi journalist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the monarchy, was backed by Marco Rubio, another of the top Republicans in the upper house, who described the crown prince as “young and aggressive.” On Monday after speaking by telephone with King Salman, Trump was far less direct, suggesting that the October 2 disappearance of Khashoggi, who had been working with The Washington Post, could have been at the hands of “rogue killers.”

But Graham, who has recently ingratiated himself with Trump, launched a tirade against Riyadh.

“I was on the (Senate) floor every time defending Saudi Arabia because they’re a good ally,” Graham told Fox.

“There is a difference between a country and an individual,” he added. “The MBS figure is to me toxic. He can never be a world leader on the world stage.” Graham added that he felt “personally offended” by the kingdom’s leadership.

“They have nothing but contempt for us. Why would you put a guy like me and the president in this box after all the president has done?” Graham fumed. “This guy has got to go.” As for the steps Trump should take, Graham pledged that Congress would “sanction the hell out of Saudi Arabia.” Rubio swatted away Trump’s reservations about sanctions that might freeze tens of billions of dollars worth of Saudi arms sales.